Holiday Parties
by Emmi Fireworkz
Summary: Every holiday, Jack's friends throw a party. And recently their new focus at these parties is a combination of humiliating Jack, and matchmaking... Scoopshipping.
1. Happy Holidays!

A raised hand knocks sharply on the door three times. "Carly!" The British voice comes out of an attractive blond teenager, and an impatient one. "Carly!" He calls again immediately.

The quick sound of footsteps hurrying foretells the open door and frazzled face with long black hair. She gasps. "Jack! You're early! And you're…" Her voice trails off as she notices Jack's more-elegant-than-usual clothing.

"Yusei's idea. Although I think he just wants time with his girlfriend." Jack feels slightly sick as he utters that last word. How can she not remember?

"So we're…" Carly waits for clarification and Jack sighs.

"Going to a holiday party. Honestly, you're a reporter, can't you figure things out?"

Carly's wide smile falters for a second, and then suddenly she is running down the hall, shouting over her shoulder, "Jack, can you just wait in the living room while I shower and get changed?"

Jack nods, although he knows she can't see it, and doesn't add that he prefers her like this. Carly in a dress isn't… Carly. She's prettier this way.

_**It's the first thing he'll never say out loud.**_

After ten minutes, Jack hears a shriek, a thump, and a loud crash coming from the bathroom. Within seconds he runs to the bathroom door and for the third time that day, bellows, "Carly!"

"No, no, it's nothing, it's all right, I'm all right!" Carly calls quickly. She's hoping he won't ask, it's too embarrassing, and the truth is sure to slip out while she's thinking of a good cover story.

"Carly, what happened?" Jack says urgently. Carly can't hear the tone in his voice, and even though she can't see him through the door, she blushes dark red.

"I- I, uh- Well, I slipped on the soap." Carly admits sheepishly.

Jack chuckles. "Pathetic." He's picturing her face, just her face, against the bathroom tile. He's pleased to see that her cheeks are bright crimson, since her blush is adorable.

_**That's the second thing Jack wouldn't admit for the world.**_

Carly finishes up her shower with a dark flush permanently fixed to her face. After the soap incident, it's relatively accident free – relatively because this is, after all, Carly.

Jack expects more loud noises any moment now, ready to jump to his feet. It's almost impossible to focus on the television, which is loudly blaring an ad for a ridiculous Christmas parade. The parade itself is childish, the decor tasteless, and Jack finds it hard to believe that the crowd of people in the picture were there voluntarily.

Carly rummages through her closet, sighing. She has nothing even halfway decent to wear, unless you count her old prom dress, and she doesn't. Then she wonders. Sticking her head out the door, she calls "Jack, is it formal or not?"

"You're asking me for fashion advice?" Jack calls mockingly back. "It's not formal, so don't wear that blue _thing_!"

The disgust in his voice is evident, and this gives Carly reason for another few minutes of thought, after which she decides on a long-sleeved button-up red blouse, long green velvet skirt, and black high heels. This outfit, she thinks, makes her look at least professional.

Carly wobbles down the hall. These shoes are going to be a problem; she just knows it. With all her weight on the rail, gripping it tightly, she manages to get three steps down the stairs.

Then, sure enough, her precarious right heel slips and Carly finds herself cartwheeling down the stairs, shrieking. Suddenly she is upright, being steadied by strong arms.

At the first scream, Jack, already on edge, finds himself instantly at the bottom of the stairs. He grits his teeth and reaches out with perfect reflexes to grab Carly's outstretched wrist. "Idiot." He says tightly.

Carly, staring up at blond hair and furious violet eyes, suddenly finds it hard to speak. "Well- But- Jack, it was an accident!"

"You say that every time." Jack says, his eyes traveling down to rest on Carly's bare ankles. "You're going to kill-" he cuts himself off abruptly. Kill is not a word Jack Atlas uses lightly anymore, not with Carly. "You're going to send yourself to the hospital in those."

"You're probably right," Carly admits, balancing herself against the wall. She takes a careful step, wobbles, and immediately latches onto the nearest thing available.

Jack's arm.

_Maybe high heels aren't so utterly terrible, _Jack finds himself thinking. _When there aren't any stairs around._

_**But he'd never admit it, and that makes the third thing today.**_

"Congratulations, by the way." Jack says, smirking.

"Um… for what?"

"For stepping on the soap in the shower. I didn't think even _you_ could make that much noise."

Carly blushes again. To her it seems like it's impossible to stop. How can Jack have this much of an effect on her from just a few sentences?

"Come on, let's go. You're going to make us late."

Carly doesn't say anything, not trusting her mouth and any words that might slip out. Jack pulls her gently to the door, bracing her and keeping her from another accident. As they reach the door, Carly's foot slips again, she falls, and her glasses clatter off.

Jack reaches for them at the same time as Carly, and they knock heads. "Oh, honestly." He gripes. Picking them up, he puts them on her and notes how enchanting her eyes are. Then he focuses on the spectacles, and frowns.

Those glasses are riddled with memories for him, and he struggles to tear his gaze away. It's just too easy to picture the glasses without their owner, in his hand. The glasses he's picturing are bent, crooked, slightly cracked, with a hole in one lens.

It hurts just to picture them.

"Jack, are you all right?" Carly's voice brings him sharply out of the reverie.

"Yes. Let's go." He replies curtly.

_**Jack Atlas will never tell anyone how much those glasses can hurt him.**_

Carly follows Jack out the door, confused by his sudden bad mood. But that's just how Jack is, she supposes – unpredictable and angry.

Going to the party, Jack says almost nothing. Carly doesn't try to make conversation, knowing that with Jack like this, it's really not worth it. He's relatively civil, but Carly knows him well enough to know that he could be furious in a moment, the way he's feeling right now.

They pull up, and Jack helps Carly out of the car, still silent. She walks timidly inside, and Jack follows, glaring at anyone who tries to meet his eye. Yusei comes over.

"Jack, are you-"

Jack cuts him off with a wave of his hand. "Fine." He says frostily. It's a lie.

**_No one, not even Yusei, knows how just much Jack misses the old Carly, and no one ever will._**

Something occurs to him: another thing that he'll never say. Never in a million years.

**_If he hadn't lost the Fortune Cup to Yusei, he would never have met Carly. Meeting Carly was the best thing that ever happened to him._**

Jack looks around, wanting something to take his mind off of Carly, the Dark Signer, and regular Carly Carmine. He raises an eyebrow, noting that Leo is almost attacking the buffet table, and Akiza's parents, who are there for some reason, have a mischievous glint in their eyes. That's a glint Jack doesn't like the look of, and one he isn't going to mess with.

In a short time Carly and Jack are arguing over something trivial, as a girl with long spiky blond hair and a bright red dress walks up to them. "Jack _Atlas_!" She gushes, as though his last name makes him the most fascinating person on Earth. "I'm Angela – a huge fan. Although," she glances sideways with disgust "Why are you talking with _her_?"

Jack looks at her. "Because it's important, and she's my friend." He replies frigidly .

"Well, than what are you two talking about?" Angela said brightly, obviously considering herself a friend of Jack's after thirty seconds of conversation. Jack doesn't even comment on how pathetic this is, too annoyed with her to bother.

"Isn't that only for _important_ people to know?" Jack says even more coldly, his patience, whatever little he had, waning thin.

Angela stares at him, affronted. "Pardon me?"

"I think you heard what I said. Or is it your ears _and_ your brain that aren't working?" Angela glares at him, absolutely outraged at his snubs.

"Well!" She gasps, and walks off snippily. Jack smirks. He always was good at getting rid of unpleasant people… and pleasant ones as well, sometimes.

Carly smiles, happy Jack would do that for her. She never likes Angela, but… dealing with her required a slightly different personality than Carly has.

They're standing next to the stairs, Jack's back turned toward Leo, who is hiding on the steps. It's easy to hide behind six-foot-tall Jack Atlas; that's just a fact of life. Leo smiles evilly. This is almost too good an opportunity to miss.

Jack and Carly are staring at each other, and Jack is once again reminded of just how short Carly is. She's tilting her head back, and he's craning his neck down, just do that they can look each other in the eye. Suddenly, there's a great whump! and something pushes Jack straight down, onto Carly's lips, from behind. Both their eyes widen, and they stare at each other.

Then Jack pulls up abruptly, spinning around, furious. His eyes light on a small boy with a blue-green ponytail, who looks terrified but elated at the same time, and Jack's face grows enraged. He storms off, infuriated, while Carly looks after him, wondering why Jack's so upset. It _was_ just her, wasn't it?

Jack stomps through the halls, winding up in the restrooms and staring in the mirror. He wishes someone would try to talk to him; he needs to vent, and terrifying someone would help immensely. Then he scolds himself silently. That's not something a kind person does; it's the sort of thing the old Jack Atlas would do.

**_If Leo weren't so annoying, Jack might thank him. Might._**

"Jack?" Someone raps on the door. "Are you in there? Are you all right?" It's Carly; one of the last people on Earth Jack wants to see.

"Fine," Jack says, coldly laconic. "And obviously, I'm in here, or I wouldn't be answering your questions."

No answer. Then, after a long silent minute: "Are you sure you're all right?"

"_Yes._" A vehement response bursts from Jack's mouth.

"Then will you come out?"

"No."

"That doesn't make it sound like you're fine." Sometimes Jack hates it when Carly sounds sensible. The door opens reluctantly, and Carly looks at him. "The famous Atlas pride wouldn't let you stay in there, would it?"

Jack doesn't bother answering, just walks past her.

"I thought so." Carly says quietly, watching Jack head down the hall. He can't hear her. But she wishes he would just let himself have fun, stop being so proud and isolating to himself. All right, it's partially because it was her Leo decided to prank Jack with, but still. Jack Atlas needs to have some holiday fun, before Mina sucks all the life out of him.

The party goes by, and Jack lightens up. He still remains awkward when he's with Carly, and Leo squeaks whenever he passes, seeing the look on Jack's face. But he's starting to have some fun, including a few jokes at Yusei's expense. After a while Akiza has had enough, and so has Carly. Jack, noting how both of the girls feel, stops, but Leo notices and imitates him. Both Akiza and Carly give up. One irritating boy, maybe, but two? They don't have a chance.

That night, Jack is in his bed. He can't sleep, and he knows the reason. Carly Carmine. Who would have known beforehand that the King of Duels would fall in love with a troublesome reporter? Not him, that's for sure.

Jack might never tell Carly he's in love with her. He's had his heart broken once; it's not going to happen again. Carly _died_, for heavens' sake! And now she has amnesia. It took him months to figure his feelings out, starting when he found Carly's smashed glasses in the building of the Arcadia Movement. And then… when he finally got up the courage to tell her…

_No. He's not going to remember that, the memory's too painful._ But he won't tell.

**_Not even Jack Atlas knows Carly's full power over him. His heart broke; he's never going to tell her, or anyone that. They might guess, but they'll never know._**

As Jack drifts off to sleep, a face swims before him. A face with red cheeks, tinted green-black hair, and a pair of bulls-eye glasses, slipping off, falling, smashing.

Even in his sleep, a tear trickles down Jack Atlas' cheek.


	2. St Valentines

**Yeah, so as an explanation – I've decided to have the characters throw a party for every major American holiday that I want to do. This one's pretty short, though, so sorry about that. The story will chronicle about a year and during that year there will be Scoopshipping. Also, coming up with things Jack wouldn't say is hard, so I might just keep that for the first chapter.**

**Also, as you might notice, I have rewritten this chapter slightly because I thought I could do better.**

"No. Absolutely not." Jack looks coldly at his friend.

"It'll be fun, Jack." Yusei sighs, exasperated by his stubborn blond friend. "You'll be absolutely fine."

"The last time I went to one of your stupid parties I got attacked by Leo…" Jack trails off, unwilling to say what happened after. It was awkward enough at the party, but bringing it up here would just be… there isn't even a word.

"Carly will be there."

Jack eyes Yusei frigidly. "What's your point?"

"You like seeing Carly."

Jack narrows his eyes. "I could if Leo hadn't pulled that stunt at the Christmas party." Yusei sighs again. Jack is never going to get over that.

Finally, finally, Yusei magically manages to get Jack to agree. Immediately, Jack regrets it.

He huffs and follows Yusei out.

Maybe if Carly's there it won't be so bad.

Oh, who is he kidding? If Carly is there it will be worse. Especially after Leo's little prank at the Christmas party.

_Carly might have loved him once, but that doesn't mean she does now. And admitting it, again, is just too hard. It's not going to happen._

Once at the party, Jack's actually starting to enjoy himself. There's no sign of Carly, which disappoints and relieves him at the same time.

Then everyone cracks up laughing. Turning around, Jack sees what's so funny. Leo is dressed all in white, with wings on his back and bows and arrows to match. Apparently he's supposed to be Cupid.

And somehow or other, Leo has managed to talk Luna into wearing a slightly more feminine version of his costume. "Leo… Never again."

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I still can't believe you even came up with this idea."

Jack has to admit, they don't look terrible. It's just funny to see them in a Cupid costume – the idea itself is funny, not so much their appearances.

He wonders what the costumes are for. The bows and arrows look like they work, and Luna probably wouldn't get talked into wearing this if she wasn't going to do something in it.

Jack's slightly suspicious now.

A slight jingle comes from behind Jack, and Jack swings around to his original position, viewing the door.

To his relief, it's not a certain reporter that Jack doesn't want to deal with. Unfortunately, it's Mina and Trudge, who shoots Jack a glare from behind Mina. Jack has never understood that man. What's to stop him asking Mina out? It's not as if Jack takes her affections seriously.

Leo and Luna have started moving around the room, shooting people with rubber-tipped arrows. Jack vaguely notes that the rubber tips are colored differently, and the twins only shoot two people at a time. They have impeccable aim; Leo must have been planning this for a long time if they're that practiced.

Jack tunes Mina out, to her displeasure, and looks around. Contrary to last time, Leo is nowhere near either Jack or the food. Instead he's bouncing around, laughing and teasing.

Leo raises his hand to Luna across the room and gives the OK signal: thumb and pointer finger touching in a circle, other three fingers extended towards the ceiling and slightly curved.

Luna nods, mouthing, _What color?_

Leo smirks. _Pink,_ he mouths back, pulling on his hair. Akiza's hair is pink.

The twins notch their arrows, pulling back their strings, and…

At the same time, two arrows with identical pink tips hit Yusei and Akiza in the shoulder. Leo, looking pleased, bounces up to Akiza and whispers something in her ear. Jack is amused, as her face grows irritated.

There's music playing, there's laughter and cheering as Leo and Luna tease Akiza and Yusei over something… everything could be perfect right now, except for one little detail…

_Carly isn't there._

_Jack isn't sure whether that's a blessing or a curse._

The bell on the door jingles again, and the smile on Jack's face abruptly drops away. It's Carly. Not that he's not pleased to see Carly, of course, but somehow awkward and at least slightly embarrassing things happen to the two of them when Carly is around.

For once he's somewhat grateful as Mina starts up a conversation with him, although he could do without the dirty looks from Trudge.

From behind Jack, the tall blond man can't see the words, _What color? _and _Purple, _ mouthed silently. He also can't see the finger Leo points to his eye, knowing exactly which color would go best with these two.

A whistling sound comes from his side, and Jack sidesteps just as two arrows come at him and Carly.

Since he pulls Carly to the ground with him, the two arrows wind up hitting Trudge and Mina.

Leo looks disappointed, but only slightly.

"Maybe you should explain what's going on?" Yusei says.

"Leo told me we were dressing up as cupids, so I figured we might as well do it properly." Luna explains, sighing.

"Cupid's arrows make people fall in love." Carly looks confused. Leo and Luna can't do that.

"Yeah, so instead we're shooting people who are already in love." Leo continues. "But Jack ducked. Either way it's a win-win situation – we still caught someone in love."

Luna groans. Carly blushes, and Jack suddenly understands why Akiza looked so irritated earlier. The twins had confronted her about Yusei.

Mina nods. "So Trudge was an accident?" Jack doesn't let Mina finish what she was going to say, sure that it will involve some nonsense about him loving her.

"That's why Akiza was so mad before."

Leo smiles smugly.

_Irritating brat,_ Jack thinks.

_**But he notices a lot more than we give him credit for.**_

Carly decides to get a drink, wondering if Mina is right. Does Jack love Mina, and it was just a fluke that the arrow nearly hit Carly?

Leo was probably wrong anyway, if the arrow was meant for Carly.

What happened while she was a Dark Signer? It's a blot on her past, but why is Jack the only person who knows, and the only person who won't tell her? They were getting along… okay before he told her not to follow him around chasing darkness. Then he left and her world crumbled. And now he's got an almost allergic reaction; he's doing his best to avoid her.

What happened to make him hate her?

She wonders whether the truth would hurt nearly as much as the fact that she loves Jack Atlas, and Mina or no Mina, he'll never love her.


	3. The Confetti of St Patty's

**So, yeah, I know this is late. I'm sorry. But St. Patrick's Day was one of the chaperst I had no ideas for. Zip. Zero. It's hard to get romantic ideas for a holiday involving religion, snakes, and beer. And I refuse to do a drinking scene. It's against my FanFiction Policies. So, yeah. Welcome to St. Patty's Day. Enjoy yourself, and don't give Leo and Luna any ammo against you.**

**Also, I feel the need to explain something. The duel between Jack and Dark Signer Carly came out in English, and since I've been using dubbed names for my whole story, I'm going to continue using them. Otherwise, it's just too hard to keep up. But, the story takes place as if what happened in the Japanese version took place. That's how this story started, and I don't want to rewrite it. I'm happy with it this way.**

Jack knows exactly what's going to happen this time. Either Yusei or Carly will show up and somehow talk him into going to a stupid holiday party for St. Patrick's Day. It's ridiculous for them to even try – Jack's more alert now around the holidays. He wonders what tricks they're going to try this time.

Jack's not going to fall for it.

The first time was just a stroke of luck for Leo – there was no way the twins could've planned for him to stand right next to the stairs. The second time… definitely not a fluke. The blue-haired duo would have had to practice for weeks to get that kind of aim, and it would have taken weeks for Leo to convince Luna to dress up in that ludicrous costume. They're probably going to be elves this time. Or whatever it is people are supposed to see around this time of year.

Jack briefly considers going just to find out what the costumes will be.

Wait, what is he thinking? The twins are sure to have brought Carly to the party.

Jack's mind drifts into a reverie at the thought of a certain black-haired reporter. All their time together, including the first time he actually enjoyed Carly's company… the balcony of that skyscraper, at sunset. Those moments with Carly had been the light at the end of the tunnel, the first breath of fresh air after an age inside a dark, sealed-off tunnel. That had been his first hope in years.

In those days with Goodwin, Trudge and Mina, Jack had been cooped up. He could go where he wanted and do what he please, but it had been boring, without actual freedom. Yusei had been his first challenger who wasn't a joke, an insult to the greatest sport invented.

Yusei had been the person who fixed Jack's mistakes.

Jack's hands curl up at the thought of it. Somehow, those weeks and memories with Carly have turned into regrets about betraying his friends, and… gratitude? Towards Yusei?

Jack shakes away the thought. Everyone makes mistakes. They prove your worth as a human being, but only if you learn from them, only if you would do them differently given a second chance.

_**Jack would never tell anyone, but he's not sure he would do them differently.**_

It's those mistake that put him on the path towards Carly.

Jack is so deep in his thoughts that he doesn't notice someone walking up behind him. He doesn't notice when someone grabs the collar of his coat. But he notices when he is yanked out of his chair and pulled backwards down the stairs and then out the door.

"What are you doing?!" Jack yells imperiously. He does his best to twist around, but it's impossible to see who it is. The person in question remains silent. Then he catches a glimpse of raspberry ruffles. "AKIZA!"

"Yes Jack?"

"Let me go!"

"No."

Jack could probably break free, but before he gets the chance to try it, he is tossed unceremoniously into one of the shortest passenger cars Jack's ever seen, with help from ANOTHER pair of unable-to-be-seen hands. The passenger car is one of those kinds that attaches to and then can be removed from the side of a motorcycle, or in this case, a Duel Runner.

"What the –" Jack looks around wildly and has enough time to register a mischievous grin and grey eyes, and black and orange paint before the engine starts up. He himself has been stuffed into a matching sidecar, which, Jack's mind informs him, probably clashes horribly with his coat. "CROW!"

"Hey there, buddy!" Jack's eye twitches.

"Let me out this instant!"

Crow raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Okay. If you want to be dashed to pieces on the pavement of a highway while we go a hundred and twenty five miles an hour and probably break the speed limit."

Jack really hates that carrot top sometimes. He probably looks ridiculous. "Just get to the stupid party already," The spiky-haired blond growls under his breath. Akiza, on her pink Duel Runner next to them, nods in agreement for possibly the first and last time in history.

Too bad Crow hears Jack. "You two anxious to see the loves of your life?" He makes a momentary kissy face and then goes back to watching the road.

Akiza's jaw drops. So does Jack's. "_What?_" They choruse.

"Jack knows who I'm talking about, right Jack?" Crow sing-songs. Jack's eye twitches again.

"Shut up!"

Crow ignores him. "And Akiza, you do know that Yusei will be there too?"

Crow spends the rest of the ride listening to Jack and Akiza alternately threaten to break certain bones in his body, disable every one of his internal organs, and snap his neck.

As Crow pulls up and parks, Jack gets out of the sidecar faster than Crow thought was humanly possible. Oh well. It is Jack, who hates being embarrassed and was just subjected to a kiddy sidecar and half an hour of torment about Carly.

The door is wide open, but suddenly Jack gets the urge to run in the opposite direction. It would make sense. Leo and Luna and probably Carly will be there. But Jack Atlas doesn't run, and both Crow and Akiza are on Duel Runners. There's no way he could get away and… dare he even think it?

_**All that work shouldn't be put to waste.**_

They do want him to see Carly.

He walks inside tentatively, hoping to just stay on the sides and not attract attention. This is not normal Jack Atlas behavior, and he's not that good at it, but considering what's happened at the last two holiday parties, it's better safe than sorry. He doesn't trust Leo and Luna, and it's clear that at least Crow and Akiza are getting a kick out of his humiliation.

He does a quick scan of the room and can pick up no trace of the small girl, but still, that might be because no one has any distinguishing features here. Jack doesn't know how they do it, but Leo and Luna have managed to book a different place for every party. This one has a balcony of sorts with a flight of stairs once a person walks in the door, and the stairs lead down to where everyone has congregated. Luckily there's so much noise that no one notices the slight creak of the door and the white suit.

The reason he can't pick out Carly in this mess is because every male person here is wearing bright green velvet plush hats with shamrocks and buckles on them, and all the girls have bright green wigs. Everyone looks ridiculous.

The door crashes open, slamming against the wall and missing Jack narrowly, and creates a huge BAM! Everyone turns around to watch, and all the attention Jack didn't want is focused on him, him and a short red head in a green plush hat. "We're BACK!" Crow yells.

"I noticed." Jack mutters under his breath. In a spectacular show of self-restraint, he manages to ignore Crow jamming a hideous green hat on his head, instead focusing his energy on wishing that the spot light that seems to be on him would vanish. Seriously, people, go away. Go back to your petty conversations and stop staring. There's nothing to see – just a giant in a green hat.

Slowly, Jack walks down the stairs. He's incredibly irritated, blushing hotly, but he's also a little bit flattered that Leo's taking this much interest in him and Carly dating.

_Barely. It's not even a thought it's so ridiculous. And it's not like he and Carly are ever going to be in love._

Carly died. Carly the Dark Signer died, and Carly Carmine died with her. Carly the Dark Signer may have loved Jack, and it's possible that came from the original Carly. Jack's never been good with ancient history. Why bother? He knows what he needs to – the fine points aren't necessary. So he doesn't know whether a Dark Signer's personality comes from everything that happened in their previous life. If it did, that would mean Carly did love him, since she should have reverted after the battle, but Jack can't be sure without confirmation from a probably dead Rex Goodwin.

Suddenly, there's a sound like a party horn but louder, and Jack is enveloped in a shower of dark and light green paper confetti. Holding his hand out to catch them, he takes a look. Four leaf clovers for luck Luck in love. Jack scoffs. What a joke.

Looking closer, Jack can see that the dark green clovers have the name Jack written on them, and the light green clovers are called Carly. Oh, it just figures.

Furiously pushing the stupid confetti away, Jack can see another stream of green paper across the room, accompanied by some shrieks, some coughs, and a lot of thuds. Probably Carly, and it sounds like Jack wasn't the only one surprised by the falling tissue paper and the horn. He makes his way across the room. All around him people (namely Yusei, Crow, Akiza and Luna) watch him with little smirks on their faces. They were all planning this!

Even a small green elf that Jack sees just now, hanging from the ceiling. Leo gives a little wave, acknowledging his part in masterminding the whole operation.

As soon as he gets to Carly, he realizes that the columns of paper are so fast and so thick that you can't even see through to the inside. Jack sticks his hand in, and feels an answering fist grab it. Jack yanks, and Carly stumbles out.

Right on top of Jack Atlas. There's a sudden, audible silence as the flurry of falling paper slows and then stops, the last scraps drifting on top of them, and Jack becomes acutely aware that not only is everyone staring, Carly's face is inches away from his.

Her clumsiness never fails, does it?

_It's just so adorable._

He can tell she's nervous too, from the way her eyes are wide, her breathing slow, and she's doing absolutely nothing.

It would take next to no effort to move forward three inches and kiss her. In fact, that's what he would like to do. But Jack's been pulled down a flight of stairs, stuffed in a sidecar, been made the spotlight of three humiliating holiday parties in a row, covered in green confetti that might possible stick to him the rest of the day, and now shoved on his backside with the love of his life sitting or lying on top of him (it's impossible to tell from his position). What Jack wants isn't connecting to his surroundings, or even to his movements as he gently pushes Carly off of him, gets to his feet, and then offers her his hand, pulling her up.

To almost anyone around, it would have seemed like a polite dismissal. Carly bites her lip, abashed. Out of the corner of their eyes, they notice that the leaves of the shamrock confetti are shaped like hearts, and Carly blushes.

The dark tint already on Jack's face turns just one shade darker.

From the ceiling, Leo nods. He's the only person who bothered to read Jack's face when he was helping Carly off of him, and even though he's strapped to the ceiling in a harness and will probably be in big trouble later, it was worth it. The tricks are partially for the thrill he gets when it's him in charge, not someone else, and partially for the excitement of a plan that worked.

But mostly, it's because no matter how old he is and how immature, Jack is his idol and Carly makes Jack happy. Leo's not ready for romantic love yet, but if you could do something for your hero, wouldn't you?

_And someday, if Leo just keeps it up, Jack might, might crack. Jack won't acknowledge the possibility, but it could happen. And Leo will have helped his hero._


	4. Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt!

**Okay, this time I decided to give them a break. I mean, I still embarrassed Jack and Carly, but not as bad this time, and I didn't do any sad stuff. I wasn't in the mood. It's Easter, I had loads of chocolate, and I was feeling kind. Kapeesh? So, rather than doing sad stuff or tons of fluff, I tried to do comedy. Let me know if I fail abysmally. I can take it. And, I just realized something: **_**Jack**_** constantly wears a **_**jack**_**et. See where I'm going with this? Good, because I don't. Just something that occurred to me while writing this chapter. Yes! Longest chapter yet! Also, I had a ton of fun writing the follow-the-clues scene. Hope you like it.**

**Oh yeah, I wrote a new Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds fic. Check it out!**

Jack strides along the street, actually relaxed for once. It's nearly eleven o'clock AM on Easter Sunday, and while none of his friends have made arrangements to do anything religious since neither Leo nor Crow would be able to sit still that long, none of them have tried to pull anything yet. It's almost… peaceful. He looks regally around the street, and suddenly the tall blonde's roving eyes light on a small torn maroon piece of paper.

_Huh?_

The former King of Dueling bends to pick it up, and spies delicate graceful handwriting with the words:

_Go to the corner of the Arcadia movement, south side._

What? That's ridiculous. Why on earth would he do that? He turns it over. _Or are you scared?_

That gets Jack's temper up. Even his friends can't say that without Jack trying to pulverize them. A complete stranger, who's only written on a piece of paper? There was no way Jack is going to ignore that. He clenches his teeth, striding off angrily. Jack is going to answer the summons; answer it, and rip whoever had written it in half.

Thirty minutes later, Jack's standing on the south side of the Arcadia Movement, glaring around. Anyone who makes eye contact flinches, squeaks, and runs.

There! A torn slip of paper, hot pink this time. Again Jack bends down, and again he sees handwriting, loopy and large this time but just as fluid as before. There is obviously more than one person doing the writing.

_Glad you made it, Mr. Atlas. Now that you've answered us this time, I'd like you to go to the Daedalus Bridge._

Jack turns it over, fuming. _You'd better._

What? No one tells Jack Atlas what to do! But still… Jack can't help but feel slightly curious. Go to the Daedalus Bridge? Why should he?

Another fifteen minutes later, Jack arrives at the bridge, only to catch sight of a dark blue piece of paper. Jack is immensely glad whoever made up the clues wrote on this one in gold ink; otherwise it would be impossible to read. This time the handwriting was neat and careful – and vaguely familiar. Where has Jack seen this writing before?

_You've made it this far, Jack. Cross the bridge, it's not that hard._

Jack turns it over. This time, the other side is blank. Apparently whoever wrote this note was too nice to make a snide comment. So that makes at least three people in on this conspiracy. Still, the other side of the bridge is… what? 300 feet away? Four hundred? Jack can walk over there, easy, and if he doesn't like what he finds, he doesn't have to go on. This little game of hide-and-seek is strange and vaguely creepy. How do they know his… oh, right. Everyone in Neo Domino City knows the name Jack Atlas. But why are these people leading him around on this weird scavenger hunt.

Across the bridge, there's an orange sheet of paper stuck between the suspensions of Daedalus Bridge. This handwriting is messy, scrawled quickly and roughly, as though whoever wrote it couldn't wait long enough to make it readable. After a few minutes and a big headache, Jack manages to decipher the words _Good job. Now go forward two streets and over one. _Turning it over (you can never be too sure) Jack understands the scribbling to say, _You big chicken. Come on, live a little._

Jack makes a growling noise deep in his throat. How dare they! Whoever "they" are. And why is it that the personalities of the handwritings seem familiar, as well as the colors? Whatever. Jack has bigger things to think about. He needs to go and annihilate whoever's writing these condescending little notes.

And the best way to find whoever's writing them is probably to follow the notes.

Jack stalks stiffly down the streets, irked and irritated. No one tells Jack Atlas what to do, and the fact that the majority of these little ripped sheets of paper has insults on them or taunts on them isn't helping his mood one bit.

Two streets forward and one street over, Jack turns around, surveying the landscape. One last note, bright blue, clings to a streetlamp. Pulling it off, Jack reads two notes. The first one is messy, quickly scribbled, and says, _Oops! You found us._ The second is timid, neat and small: _Come on in. Thank you for sticking with it this far._

Now Jack knows almost for sure who wrote these. He pulls out each slip of paper, carefully stored in his pocket, and looks at them. The first one is maroon with a stinging reprimand and graceful handwriting, reminding him of an old woman's. Jack's not sure who this is.

But the second one – hot pink, with graceful, loopy handwriting of a large size and a warning threat – it has Akiza written all over it. No pun intended.

The third – dark blue, with no insult and neat, careful, gentle handwriting that Jack recognizes – is without a doubt Yusei's. There's no question.

The fourth… brash, hurried and messy, with a commanding, rather rude tone and orange paper… there's no mistaking it for anyone but Crow.

And the last has two handwritings – one messy, as though the writer had better things to do, and the other neat and gentle, both on a background of bright blue. It's obviously the twins' mischief.

And while Jack is adding all this together to come up with the result that he was lead here on a quest, the door of the building behind the lamppost swings open and every person he figured out pops out, grabs him, and drags him in.

"Ack! Let me go!" Jack yells, struggling. But there are five people against him and no matter how tall he is, Jack doesn't have a chance.

"Not a chance, buddy!" A cheerful voice pops up. Jack glares at the perky red-head.

"It took ages to plant all those notes." An older, much more feminine voice continues. "We're not wasting it."

"Come on, Jack. It's just a bit of fun." Yusei injects calmly.

"Your idea of fun is tormenting me!" Jack yells. "How is that fun for me?"

"Relax." Luna says. "We're just doing an Easter egg hunt." Wait, what? An Easter egg hunt isn't on the level of their other schemes.

What's going on? Before he has a chance to figure it out, he's dragged into the building. Jack stares around. This place is huge and - how on Earth did Leo and Luna get _real_ grass to grow in here? Oh, it's just plastic grass. But even with the grass there's lots of furniture just standing around. Instead of doors to other rooms, there are huge curved arches, and all the walls are painted to resemble an Easter scene (a field full of rabbits, flowers and brightly colored eggs). Kalin is standing next to Carly. Both look sheepish, like they got tricked into coming here just like Jack.

"Um, hey Jack." Carly says shyly, blushing. Kalin just waves slightly.

Leo claps his hands together. "Okay, people, we're splitting into teams of two. Kalin and Crow, Akiza and Yusei, Jack and Carly, and me and Luna." Oh no. Before Jack can run out the door, it slams courtesy of Crow, who waves breezily. Jack glowers at the carrot top, and turns back to Leo.

Jack has to say, he's a little surprised. He's never known Leo to lead anything except his sister's hopes. This seems like a team effort, and Leo's leading. What's stranger, everyone else is following. The little blue pony tailed boy isn't really a leader to Jack's mind. Huh.

"Okay," Leo continued. "Team KC is hunting for green and bright blue eggs. Team AY is hunting for dark blue and pink eggs. Team CJ is hunting for purple eggs, any shade, and Team LL is going after all the other eggs. Teams are organized according to the initials of their members, and every team has the same amount of eggs hidden no matter what colors they're looking for. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Jack says roughly. "Why do we have to play your stupid egg hunt anyway?"

"Because it's a competition, Jack." Luna answers quietly.

"Duh." Leo adds. "Bet you can't win."

"We will!" Jack says confidently.

Leo smirks, and then says, "Any _more_ questions?"

Kalin and Akiza raise their hands simultaneously. Leo points at Kalin, and he asks, "How many eggs are there?"

"Good question." Leo says. "Um… I forget… Luna?"

"Twenty-five per team, Leo." Luna answers, and Jack notes that she seems to be the second-in-command.

"Who hid the baskets?" Carly asks suddenly. That hadn't occurred to Jack. If Leo and Luna hid them, they'd have an advantage.

"Martha did." Luna answers simply.

"How much time do we have, how many rooms are there, and what do we carry the eggs in?" Akiza cuts in.

Leo considers. "About… half an hour from the start time, six rooms, and there are baskets at your feet."

Jack looks down and sees a purple, blue and orange basket on his foot that he's certain wasn't there a second ago. Carly bends down to pick it up, not looking at Jack. Jack doesn't say anything. He hasn't seen Carly since the last holiday party, which admittedly wasn't that long ago, but he wishes he could change the past. Not have just dismissed Carly, have done something. Maybe today will turn out better.

"And… GO!" Leo yells, jolting Jack to the present. Crow has rushed out a door, dragging a frazzled-looking Kalin after him.

Jack shrugs, turning to Carly. "Shall we?" Carly nods silently. They follow Crow and Kalin's route, starting to rummage around in the plastic grass for eggs. "Found one!" Jack's already forgotten the colors for each team, and ignores the fact that the plastic egg is dark blue. Carly just stares at the floor.

Jack pulls it open and laughs a deep booming laugh. It feels good to laugh; it's not something Jack often does. He puts the egg back together, and with perfect aim, throws it at Yusei's head. It's a bulls-eye, and Yusei turns around and picks up the egg.

Cracking it open, he sees what Jack laughed at: a Photoshopped picture of Yusei and Akiza hugging each other tightly. "Very sweet!" Jack bellows as Yusei shows it to Aki, whose response is to chuck a purple egg at Jack, hitting him between the eyes.

"Ow!" Jack rubs his nose, then cracks open this new egg. His face grows dark, and he makes a growling noise. Carly bends her knees to pick up a purple egg of the same shade and sees what Jack's so angry about: another obviously Photoshopped picture of Jack and Carly, arms around each other, kissing each other intimately. Carly turns beet red immediately.

"Oh, do you like it?" Leo says, smiling widely from the doorway.

Jack drops the egg and lunges, attempting to get his hands around Leo's throat. Leo squeaks, jumping back, and Yusei, Crow and Kalin grab a snarling Jack by the jacket, dragging him back. "You – little – brat!"

"Come on, Jack, it's not that bad." Carly says quietly.

Jack stops, dropping his hands to his sides. "It's just that – well… Carly…"

Carly knows how Jack's feeling. The fact that Leo would put pictures like that in _Easter eggs_ for them to find is just… it's all Carly can do not to wrap her own hands around Leo's throat.

"Um… well…" Leo seems to be searching for something to say. Then he finds it. "If you think that picture was bad, wait until you see Crow's!"

Crow lets out a screech like a monkey and drops to his knees to pick up a blue egg. Upon opening it, Crow stares at it, apparently lost for words at the sight of it.

Seeing Crow's face, Jack chuckles. Maybe this Easter won't be too bad…

Half an hour later, everyone's collected all their eggs, and it's time to give out prizes. For every egg you find, you get a piece of candy, and Leo insists upon everyone sitting in a circle and trading candy. "It's Easter." He says. "Candy is traditional."

Jack rolls his eyes. It's traditional to do a lot of things, and he gets the feeling that Leo wouldn't insist on anything besides candy even if it _was_ traditional.

Jack rips the wrapper off a chocolate duck and bites off the head, watching everyone appraise their candy.

"Jack, do you want my Crunch bar? I know you like them." Carly offers.

Jack swallows his duck head, nods, and then says "Do you want my Snickers bar?"

"I think she might want you to give her a slightly different kind of treat, Jack." Leo says impishly, eyebrows raised, smile mischievous.

"Why you-! How old are you anyway?"

"We turned thirteen six months ago." Luna says.

Jack chokes on the feet of his chocolate duck. "You're not old enough to say stuff like that!"

"I think I am." Leo says, looking at him seriously. "And Crow says I am."

"You're listening to Crow on that?" Jack says incredulously.

"Yeah…"

Jack turns to Crow with an evil look on his face. Crow gulps. "Hey, buddy…"


	5. End of School Soakings

**Hah! Bet none of you expected this chapter!**

**I didn't really have a lot of ideas for this chapter, especially considering this isn't really a holiday. But I couldn't go all the way until the Fourth of July without writing a chapter, I just couldn't!**

**Oh, and BTW, Crow's "Awkward silence…" is homage to my best friend. And yes, Kagami and Konata are a crossover with Lucky Star for anyone who watches that. Man… those girls kick butt. I was browsing Deviantart and got inspired (Hiragii twins)!**

**This chapter was really hard to write because I got so bored: I couldn't think of anything, or at least anything that could be used. Gah! I'm also not sure I like how this chapter turned out.**

Jack is sitting in his chair, leaning back. It's the start of June, nothing to worry about. There aren't any holidays for a month. No one's challenged him to a duel, there's been no great evil to beat and nothing to train for… it's almost too quiet. He wishes he had something to do. A party, no, but a duel, an argument with Crow, something to break the never-ending boredom, like seeing Carly…

Jack closes his eyes. That would be too awkward. _Way _too awkward. After the last… what, four times he's seen her? There was Leo's little sneak attack, the Valentine's Day cupids, both of them drowning in confetti and then the near kiss, and finally the Photoshopped Easter eggs… Jack shudders to think what's coming up for the Fourth of July.

Jack's running through possible scenarios for the Fourth of July when there's a knock on the door. Jack's head turns. He doesn't get many visitors; even the flow of reporters has dried up over time. The most he's gotten, aside from the odd visit from his friends, are Akiza and Crow dragging him off for the St. Patrick's Day party, and Yusei at Valentine's Day. Before that, it was Carly around Christmas, and before that... he can't even remember that far back. Only the most significant visits are popping out.

Getting up calmly, Jack walks over to the door. He's got nothing to fear. There are no holidays. It just occurs to him now, that he hasn't seen Akiza or the twins for a while. School, maybe, but even after school he'd expect to see her with Yusei more than he has. Oh well...

Opening the door, Jack comes face to face with Kalin. It's a bit of a surprise; the only members of Team Satisfaction he's seen since Easter were Crow and Yusei (not that there were any other members). But still...

Kalin's face wears an easy smile. Friendly, welcoming, it's got all of the Kalin he remembers before Sector Security in it. It's good to see that again.

"Hey," Kalin says, amicable. "We're going to have a picnic down by the river. Yusei's idea. You in?"

Jack considers this.

On the one hand, you can never be too careful.

On the other, they've never really _invited_ him to a party before – it's usually tricks and brute force. Kalin got tricked into coming to the last party – Jack asked him afterward – and that makes him less likely to be helping. A picnic doesn't sound like much of a party, either. And there is no holiday...

Jack nods. The proof is definitely leaning towards the "It's safe, let's go," side of the scales. Just one thing to check.

"Did you invite Carly?" It's not that Jack doesn't want to see Carly. But the facts speak for themselves: Carly + Jack + party/thing that includes Leo/Luna/Crow/Yusei/Akiza = Embarrassed Jack.

Which Jack does not enjoy.

Kalin raises his right hand casually. "I _promise_ I didn't invite Carly."

Hm... _But, I guess when you were on a team for years with someone you'd get the ability to read their minds, _Jack muses. Kalin seemed to read his mind: if Kalin had said he hadn't invited her, Jack would have double-checked him on it. And Kalin's not one to break a promise.

All in all, it seems safe.

Jack walks out with Kalin.

It's a nice day out, sunny but not too hot. A good day for a picnic. There are a lot more people out than normal, especially since it's about eleven forty-five AM on a Wednesday and most of the people look young enough to be in school.

Is there something Jack forgot?

_Nah._ Jack decides. _Didn't forget a thing._ _Must be a day off or something..._

Walking along the river, the water is sparkling and bright, the air fresh, and trees line the sides of the boardwalk. As the two men come to a tree with a sheet spread out under it, Jack notices a short boy with bright blue hair, an identical girl, Akiza, and the two remaining members of Team Satisfaction.

"Hey!" Crow raises a hand in greeting, smiling and laughing at nothing in particular.

"Have a seat," Yusei invites, waving along the length of the sheet. Jack shrugs, sitting between Crow and Kalin. Soon the seven friends are chatting and laughing.

Half an hour passes. Footsteps from people Jack can't see and doesn't care about come and go. Eventually two pairs that blend into one sound from time to time come closer and closer, then stop.

The smile on Leo's face, sitting across from Jack, grows wider as he sees the owners.

"Hey." A breezy, calm voice floats from behind Jack. Jack turns slightly to see Kalin's face turn a barely visible shade of red, and that is all the confirmation he needs. That's Misty's voice.

But then who are the other footsteps? Jack's almost scared to find out. Almost. Because Jack Atlas is never scared.

"Hey everyone!" The second voice is more cheerful, more perky, and Jack's blood runs cold. Jumping to his feet and spinning around, Jack stares at Carly with only one thought in his mind.

"I thought you said you didn't invite Carly!" The words are accusing, directed at Kalin, and as soon as they're out of his mouth Jack wishes he could take them back. That tone is upset, and it's impossible to tell why.

Carly gulps, then steels herself. She's over Jack Atlas. She told herself so, many many months ago in her kitchen, before she became a Dark Signer.

She doesn't need him, and she can get over her love for him.

Even as she tells herself this, Carly knows it's useless.

Misty glares at Jack with a disapproving eye, angry at him for upsetting her friend. Jack in turn glares at Kalin, who stares back.

"I said I didn't invite Carly. I never said Crow didn't." Kalin wavers, turning slightly to Misty. His face betrays the fact that he's hoping she forgives him. Misty nods slightly; she forgives him.

Jack shoots Crow an angry glare, and Carly misreads it. _He wishes Crow hadn't invited me…_

"So, you got it right, buddy!" Crow smirks. "It _is _a holiday party."

Jack's face grows tight, irritated. "It's not even a holiday."

"Wrong," Crow corrects. "We're celebrating the end of school for Leo, Luna and Akiza."

_So that was why there were so many people out… the end of school! _ Jack swears mentally.

Crow smirks again. "Yusei's happy, at least. More time to spend with his girlfriend, right, Akiza?" He shoots Akiza a mischievous glance.

Akiza glares at him.

"Crow." Yusei's voice is quiet but warning.

"Hey, you can't blame me for-"

"Crow."

Crow huffs something that sounds suspiciously like, "Killjoy."

The tension in the – well, not really room – is evident. Jack's not one for metaphors (what's the point? Why can't people just say that they mean?) but you could cut it with a knife.

Everyone stares around at everyone else. A full minute and a half later, Jack checks his watch and it's still silent. What, haven't they planned anything for him and Carly?

Apparently not.

Leo claps his hands. "Um… it's getting boring just sitting around here." Crow nods.

Jack grows suspicious. What are they planning? Anyone's a suspect right now – minus Carly.

"So what do we do?" Misty asks. "Take a walk?"

Kalin nods. But then, Jack supposes that Kalin would be up for almost anything Misty proposed (Kalin's not the only mind-reader in Team Satisfaction).

Everyone agrees, some half-heartedly. Leo and Crow are among the dissenters. But oh well – this must be interfering in their plans, and Jack is extremely grateful. If a walk will stop whatever Crow and Leo have planned, he's all for it.

Walking through the park is pleasant enough, but static. No one is talking much until Crow says in a creepy voice, "Awkward silence…"

Misty raises an eyebrow as everyone stares at Crow. He shrugs. "Just trying to break the ice. This is boring."

Okay, Jack would never tell him, but Crow's right. Nothing's happening. It's almost worse than back at home.

Jack looks around and notices how conspicuous they look. It's just a thought, but really? They've got blue-haired twins, a bright-haired redhead, a light blue-haired giant, the former and present Kings of Games, the unofficial "Queen of Games", and the supermodel Misty Tredwell. And Carly.

How have they lasted this long without getting mobbed by the general public?

After an hour or two of pleasant conversation without any real meaning to it, everyone agrees they're tired. No one complains, no one looks disappointed.

Jack's slightly nervous until he remembers that Crow and Leo's plans couldn't be put into action because Misty said they should take a walk.

Why on Earth did they listen to her?

Suddenly he's nervous again.

But since everyone's tired, they agree to take a seat on a dock sticking out in the river. Jack's not sure it's safe, since the thing is obviously wet and slippery and just an accident waiting to happen. He chances a look at Carly, wondering about her clumsiness and whether they'll both make it through these parties. Because honestly, who knows when they're going to end, and Leo can come up with some pretty devious plans.

Jack's still bored to tears; at least, until a conversation with Yusei goes around, asking what he and Akiza will be doing in their free time. Now he's perfectly wide-awake and interested. It's teasing Yusei, and even if Crow is the leader it's always great to make fun of friends. Or so Jack has learned from Crow.

"I'm thirsty," Carly says, standing up. "I'll be back in a minute."

Her sudden movement prompts notice from one of the people walking by, and suddenly Jack wonders if his previous thoughts were psychic. A girl with long blue hair lets out a piercing shriek, and her companion (a girl with long purple pigtails) sighs, facepalming.

"Really? Really?" She asks unbelievingly.

"You don't get it, Kagami!" The blue-haired girl says condescendingly. "That's _them!_"

"I know perfectly well who they are." The blue-haired girl ignores her companion – Kagami? – in order to run up and take a picture. Momentarily blinded, Carly slips on a patch of wet wood and seaweed – Jack was right about the hazards of the dock – and falls, _splash!_, into the river.

Jack's not even thinking as he yanks off his jacket and jumps in to grab Carly, who in her thrashing has managed to get ten feet away from the dock and appears to be at least half-drowning. He grabs her, pulling her up to the surface properly. She's freaking out, too upset to do much but squirm, so Jack pulls her into his arms bridal-style.

He kicks toward the dock once before noticing that the blue-haired girl is giggling, Kagami is glaring at her, and every one of his male friends has his eyes closed (or in the case of Leo, covered by Yusei's hand).

Jack cocks his head and then looks down, realizing in an instant what's going on. It's Carly. Because it's always Carly. Carly, who is currently in his arms, wearing a white and light blue striped shirt. A shirt that is _soaking wet and therefore seethrough._

Kicking off again with his eyes closed, Jack immediately realizes what is wrong with this plan. He can't swim or aim for the dock with his eyes closed, but he can't avoid Carly (or his hormones) with his eyes open.

He reluctantly decides to take the plan with a less chance of them drowning – eyes open. As he reaches the side of the dock, Kagamin reaches down alongside Akiza to help pull Carly out of the water, the two girls correctly assuming that Jack can handle himself.

He's also in a soaking wet white shirt, Jack realizes as he tosses Carly his thankfully dry coat. But it's worse for her. "You put that on."

Carly nods.

"You four can open your eyes," Misty says once the jacket is wrapped safely around Carly's shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Kagami says. "Konata is so stupid sometimes. Especially when she finds someone she idolizes."

Jack doesn't accept the apology. It's not okay. It could possibly be better if Crow wasn't snickering like an idiot. But it wouldn't be okay.

"It's fine," says Carly, who is blushing a shade of burgundy previously unknown to man and staring at the ground.

No, it's not. But Jack is going to be civil. At least until these two are gone.

Which apparently Kagami senses because she grabs Konata by the arm, utters a quick, "Bye," and drags her friend off.

"Look who rushed off to be the big hero," Crow says, beaming evilly. Jack growls softly under his breath and Crow gets the message, shutting up.

Carly's still blushing. _Adorable, _Jack thinks, blocking out the part of his mind that is saying something quite different, something that has to do with the overlarge coat she is right now wearing.

Jack grits his teeth and prepares to ignore the large amount of teasing about to flow from everyone who's standing next to him. Crow alone looks like he just read the look on Jack's face, and can't wait to use the opportunity for a good humiliation.

Crow looks at Leo. "I have to say, that was better than anything we had planned out."

Jack bunches his fists and holds his arms tight to his sides to prevent any and all violent urges.

**W00T! And I never w00t! Longest chapter yet! I think… I can't be bothered to count. And since I really had no ideas, I settled for sexual tension.**

**And now to go work on the first chapter of my Lucky Star fic… happy reading!**


	6. Faithshipping Fireworks

**I'm sorry. I know this chapter is a week late, but I really had no ideas until I made myself sit down and work last night, and then the whole chapter sort of wrote itself. But I still didn't have any ideas, which is why Crow and Leo are focusing on Yusei and Akiza, and they're only doing one thing. Don't worry, this chapter still has Scoopshipping, and it's really really sweet. This is a tie for my favorite chapter – this and the first.**

Jack breathes in and out. It's nearly five PM on the Fourth of July. He doesn't have any ideas about what Crow and Leo have planned, but it's not like it matters. Jack would never have thought of confetti torrents, or a torn-paper quest, or twin cupids, or whatever their stupid plan was last time, the one they never got to execute. But it still doesn't matter, even if he could have imagined what those two are up to. The last holiday party proved that Jack and Carly can be extremely embarrassed without Crow _or_ Leo having to lift a finger.

God, those two annoy him.

There's a loud yell from down the street, and Jack's head turns, along with everyone else's in the café. "JACK!"

A red-and-brown blur shoots down the lane and pops up next to Jack. The blond glares at it. "What do you want, Crow?" Crow is panting, bobbing up and down with the effort to breathe, and it's a while before Jack can recognize the sounds coming out of his mouth as actual words.

"What?"

"Ksandawrpat!" Crow blurts out.

Jack looks at him skeptically, one eyebrow raised. If this is a prank by Leo, it's the stupidest one he's ever heard of. "Repeat that."

"Akeysandawerepaht!"

The tall blonde Brit glares at the redhead. "Say that one more time, and say it comprehensibly, or I'm leaving."

"Akiza's on the warpath!" Crow gasps out, hiding behind Jack and jumping at all movements.

Jack taps his foot, watching Crow. Crow stares desperately back with a please-help-me-or-I'm-doomed-because-I-made-a-redhead-mad look. Jack goes back to his tea, ignoring his friend.

"Oh, come on!"

"Crow, you haven't told me why Akiza is 'on the warpath' so I have no reasons to help you." Jack states, not looking up.

Crow glares at him, still somehow managing to look beseeching. "Akiza's on the warpath because Misty spilled the beans about today."

The blond boy has given up trying to make sense of Crow's wild ramblings, instead focusing on people-watching. At the word 'Today', though, he turns his head. "What did you have planned?"

"Tons of stuff, tons of stuff!" Crow blurts out, bouncing around, eyes darting everywhere in order to look for Akiza.

Jack's eyes narrow. "Tons of stuff?"

Crow nods. "Yeah, yeah! Can you help?"

The blond youth stiffens for a moment, surprised. Help? Help embarrass himself? What on Earth is Crow mumbling about, jittery and frazzled? And what does Akiza have to do with all this?

"Help you with what?"

"The party, the party!" Crow replies as though it should be obvious. "Can you help? We still need to get Carly to help, but I think Luna's doing that, she'll be good at it, we went over the plans, but then Misty just had to spill the beans…"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP WITH YOUR INCESSANT RAMBLINGS AND TELL ME STRAIGHT WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT?" Jack roars, fed up with Crow's babbling.

The café grows quiet, turning to stare at the pair, and Jack glowers at them. One by one the patrons get the hint and turn back to their food.

"We were going to take a break from you and Carly because it's summer and we couldn't get any ideas, but Leo said it would be boring without any parties, so we decided to do Yusei and Akiza but we told Misty and she told Akiza so it wasn't a good surprise and now I want you to help because Misty said she wouldn't be a part of it, so we're down one person!"

Jack stares. Never has he heard anyone talk that much without taking a single breath. "How much coffee have you had today?"

"Not much, not much," Crow replies distractedly as though repeating the sentiment will reinforce it, simultaneously scanning for any signs of a raging pink-haired girl.

Jack groans, facepalming. "Crow, not much is a relative term. I want a number."

"Just, uh, just three." The redhead answers, not really paying attention.

Three cups of coffee wouldn't do that much damage. Jack lowers his eyelids, raising one eyebrow. "Three cups?"

"No, silly!" Crow says. "Three cans!"

Jack sucks in his breath, alarmed. "You drank three cans' worth of coffee?" He yells.

"Yeah, yeah. Where's Akiza?"

"CROW!" An outraged scream echoes from down the street. The words _Déjà vu _cross Jack's mind right before he sees a pretty pink-haired girl stomping furiously down the street. "When I get my hands on you I swear you are absolutely doomed!"

Crow swears, repeating himself three times.

Akiza storms up to Crow, barely turning her head to say to Jack, "Whatever he told you, don't you _dare_ help him with it."

Jack chuckles under his breath. He has just started to see the appeal of helping Crow with his little scheme.

He nods sarcastically. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good," Akiza growls, stomping off.

Jack smirks. Once she's well around the corner, he adds, "Not."

"Awesome!" And Crow has jumped up again, running off as fast as he can in the opposite direction from where Akiza went – towards Carly's apartment. Jack scowls, hoping that he's only going there to ask Carly for help tonight with Yusei and Akiza, because Crow has been known to go back on his word sometimes. It's then that he realizes that Crow has gone off without telling him anything about what he's supposed to be helping with. But then, that's typical, Jack supposes. It is Crow… and Crow did have three cans of coffee.

Jack sighs, turning back to his tea and opening a newspaper.

Not ten minutes later, footsteps click on the sidewalk, approaching. Jack pays them no mind – he hasn't made any arrangements to meet anyone, unlike most of the café's other customers, and if Crow was coming back he would have by now.

So when the footsteps stop without the chatter coming from all sides growing any louder from one more person, Jack looks up. He has to look around quite a bit before he notices the small girl before him.

Luna looks nervous, as Jack supposes she has a right to seeing as she's helped her brother humiliate him time and again over the past seven months. But Luna is the sort of person no one can really get any proper satisfaction from scaring the wits out of, and therefore Jack can't be bothered attempting to give her a proper reason to be frightened of him. They're friends, anyway, of a sort. Given the events of these holiday parties, he supposes it's the category of friends that Crow, Leo, and most of his other friends are currently residing in. The category of under suspicion.

But Jack doesn't feel any particular annoyance towards Luna, and therefore he says, "Yes?" in a tone that could be considered civil to anyone who didn't know Jack, and extremely friendly to anyone who did.

"It's… um…" Luna's understandably nervous, and her nervousness and slight stutter combine, the effect being to unintentionally make herself seem diminished.

Jack sighs. He's never patient at the best of times, but this is Luna, who (with some slight differences to his emotions), he respects on the same level as Carly. She is worthy of his patience, so he attempts to conjure some. "Luna, it's been a strange day already, so if you have no particular reason for being here…" He trails off, unsure of where that sentence might lead, but it's striking him that it mightn't exactly be patient.

"It's just that… well…"

"Is there some way I can help?"

Luna looks, if possible, even more alarmed. Although Jack doesn't know this, the reason is because Jack is actually attempting to be civil and helpful, something that most normal people would find extremely creepy.

"Well… Leo doesn't really have an assignment for you because you were recruited so late, and we had to cancel all but one of our plans because Misty talked to Akiza, and even normally Yusei and Akiza don't have anything to do with the plans, so…" She trails off again, finding helpful Jack simply too intimidating.

"So… what?" Jack says, slightly more impatiently.

The little blue-haired girl feels the churning in her stomach caused by a civil Jack start to relax a bit, mollified somewhat by this small change in attitude. "We just need you to show up at Sixty-ninth Street at the park along the waterside at eight. The sun will be setting, I think."

Jack nods. "And… just what will be going on?"

"It's a surprise. And… er… Don't worry about Crow. We'll get him settled down." She mutters the word, "Hopefully," under her breath. Jack smirks.

"I wouldn't worry too much. We're going to meet in two and a half hours, right?"

Luna nods.

"He'll get over the coffee hang-up by then. He always does."

Luna nods again, and a thought strikes her. "Actually, there is something you can do."

Jack cocks his head slightly, and Luna correctly interprets this to mean that he's listening.

"If you can get Akiza to come without, that'd be so awesome… Cause right now she's sort of mad at both of us…"

"No problem," Jack says, and he means it. One Akiza is no match for a Jack Atlas who has just had some tea, especially when she gets all concerned over being mad the way she does. Jack just doesn't understand it. Everyone has the right to blow off steam, and Akiza's gone through a lot emotionally, especially after the fiasco with that Sayer man and Misty. She doesn't need to be so upset about getting mad, though.

Luna nods a third time, and Jack remembers something.

"Don't give Crow chocolate, even if he begs for it. Yusei and Kalin can back me up on the fact that if you give him chocolate during a coffee buzz, he won't get over it for another two weeks. It's just dangerous."

Jack can practically see Luna filing away this information for later.

Luna smiles, thanks him, and starts to walk away, and Jack calls for the check. He'd better get a head start on this Akiza business.

The next two and a half hours pass in a flurry – Jack can't even remember how he got Akiza to come, except that it might have involved guilting her about Leo and Luna.

The result being that Akiza is grumbling to herself when Jack meets her in the park.

All seven of them take a seat by the edge of the river, on the grass, and lean back on their hands to watch the fireworks that are customary for this day.

After about half an hour the fireworks die out, and Crow announces that every year the fireworks take a five-minute intermission for people who want to stretch their legs and stuff. Then he ads with a wink that no one should leave, because the best part is coming up.

Carly is struggling with a decision that she's been trying to make all day. The last time she thought about it, before the fireworks started, she promised herself she'd do it. But now it seems more intimidating. Carly bites her lip, steeling herself. _You can do this. You got through being a Dark Signer, and you got through the past seven months. Besides, you really can be brave when you want to._

"Erm… Jack… Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Jack freezes, looks at her, and shoots a look at the back of Crow's head. He's trying to evaluate whether Crow asked her to do this as a prank, Carly can tell. She shakes her head slightly when he turns back to her. Jack gets the point.

"Well, all right then. But it had better be a moment – the fireworks are going to start up again soon."

Crow and Leo, to their credit, both hear this, and both refrain from teasing Jack and Carly. They promised to give them a bit of a break, after all, and they don't really need to tease the two today.

Jack and Carly stop walking about thirty feet away from the group, and Jack turns to her. "Yes?"

Carly tries to breathe. She hadn't thought they'd be getting to the point so soon. This isn't going to be an exactly easy conversation. But she decides, _better now than never,_ and dives in. "Jack, why do you hate me now?"

Jack's flustered, surprised. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. "I don't hate you."

"You're acting like it," Carly says quietly. This is immediately contrasted by Jack's sharp reply.

"No I'm not!"

Carly doesn't answer.

Jack is quiet for maybe fifteen seconds. He can tell he's going to have to do something that is not characteristic for Jack Atlas, but at least he's going to have to do it to Carly.

He's going to apologize.

It's very awkward in this little cluster of trees. Carly stares at the ground, Jack stares at a point maybe three inches above Carly's head. "Carly… I'm sorry."

Carly jerks her head up, and, merely out of reflex, Jack jumps back. The little black-haired reporter looks at him, confused. Jack Atlas doesn't apologize.

"For… acting like I hate you. It's just that…" Jack isn't good with getting out his emotions, and these words are especially hard, because it's Carly and he loves her but he doesn't particularly want to say it.

Carly understands at least partially what will be coming next out of Jack's mouth. "Just that when you're embarrassed, you yell at people?"

"I don't get emb-" Jack pauses at the look on Carly's face, then changes his mind about what he was going to say. "Yes…"

Carly's starting to get it more now. Jack's not mad at her, he's mad at the two ringleaders behind all this nonsense. But when Jack Atlas is mad at one person, he yells at everyone. She smiles at him. "It's okay."

The blond British boy wishes he could be half as forgiving as Carly, half as… as wonderful. Carly is amazing, sweet to everyone she meets. He knows she doesn't believe it, but she could probably tame lions. She's handled an upset Jack Atlas – vicious wild felines shouldn't faze her. It's one of the things he loves most about her: how she's willing to overlook the bad in everyone, accept it as a thing of nature, that everyone has a little bit of a dark side to them, and believe that the good in people will overshadow the evil… even after being a Dark Signer. She's amazing.

He smiles down at her, and Carly, unlike Luna, isn't surprised. Because this is a genuine Jack smile, not one caused by him trying to be helpful. It's an actual smile – the one of the Jack she's fallen in love with, the Jack who's struggling to change the bad in him. Jack might actually be one of the most hopeful people she's ever met because, despite his negative outlook, he actually believes that one day he might be able to make up for all he's done, and he's actually working at it. He's amazing.

"So… Carly… about the holiday parties…" Jack's tripping over his tongue now, trying to get out words he hadn't planned. If he thought confessing was hard the first time….

Carly smiles up at him, completely misinterpreting his words. "I know you're not mad at me, it's okay."

Jack's just opening his mouth to correct her when Misty walks up. "Come on, the fireworks are starting again."

Carly takes Jack's hand, hoping beyond hope he won't mind. "Yeah. You said you didn't want to miss them."

Jack would have given quite a lot to be able to go back in time and delete that one comment about making their little talk quick because he wanted to see the fireworks. But he can't. So he just follows Misty, the mistake slightly made up for by the fact that when he sits down again, Carly sits down right next to him and is closer to him than she's been in months.

Both Jack and Carly enjoy the rest of the evening, not just because of what the talk in the trees cleared up, but because neither of them are avoiding each other any more – quite the opposite, really. They joke together and laugh together and, really, they both find it very funny when, right before the finale, a set of pink-and-blue fireworks pop up so close together that they spell 'AKIZA AND YUSEI 4EVA!'

Akiza lets out an indignant squeak and turns to Misty, her mouth opening and closing slightly. "You didn't tell me about that!"

Misty shrugs, smiling and giggling slightly. "I couldn't ruin their whole afternoon, now could I? Besides, I like it."

Jack lets out a deep booming laugh when he sees that Yusei, who hasn't taken part in the argument, is sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, staring into the sky with a slight blush on his face, and Carly giggles a little bit too.

Even the fact that the finale ends with a spectacular set of purple and blue and orange explosions (which surely can't be a coincidence, but no one else really seems to mind), doesn't do anything to dampen Jack's mood. Because tonight was very, very near perfect.


	7. Facing the Horrors of Halloween

"No." It's his final answer, and he's prepared to say it until the end of time if it makes this _girl_ get the point.

"Come on, Jack! It'll be fun."

"No."

Akiza looks extremely put out, the tip of her black hat flopping to match her mood. "Jack, it's not a choice any more. Put on the stupid costume."

"I am not babysitting the twins and dressing up like a king on the most infantile of all holidays!"

"Halloween is not infantile! I'm even dressing up!" Akiza protests.

"My proof exactly. No."

"Just wear the crown, then!"

"Why?"

"Because we've been having this argument for a half an hour, Jack, and I need to you be in charge of the twins tonight!"

"Why can't you do it?" Jack folds his arms over his chest.

Akiza turns a shade of red to match her hair. "B-because… well… It's just that…"

Jack smirks. "Where is Yusei taking you tonight?"

"Wh-what? I'm not- we're not- tonight- how did you know?" stutters Akiza, completely dumbstruck. Jack has hit the nail on the head when it comes to someone else's feelings, for once in his life. The magenta-haired duelist can't believe it.

"Only Yusei can make you turn that shade of red." Jack says, clearly enjoying the show. "So where is he taking you?"

"I don't-"

"You know what I'm talking about, and this denial is getting tedious. Where is he taking you?"

Akiza sighs, knowing that Jack will not find it half as 'romantic' as she does. Of course, it's alone time with Yusei. She won't complain. "Trick-or-treating with Martha's kids and the kids Crow looks after."

Suddenly the doorbell rings. Akiza looks at her watch. "Six o'clock. I know who that is." Jack follows her, knowing what's coming next. Akiza pauses next to the door. "Jack, just wear the crown, if nothing else. Come on. Please?"

Jack groans, finally giving in. Half an hour of arguing over whether or not to wear a costume to the potential events of the evening has worn down his will. He will agree to this shade of a compromise that mostly goes towards what he wanted. "Fine." Then he remembers something she mentioned at the beginning, when she had just walked in the door and told him what she wanted. "Wait. You said there was another babysitter, didn't you?"

Akiza opens the door. "Yeah, so?"

Naturally.

Of course.

Leo and Luna are standing on the front steps, dressed as an Optimus Prime Transformers robot and a fairy respectively, and standing behind them is a very frazzled reporter with black hair and glasses.

Who is naturally wearing a _queen _costume.

To match Jack's _king_ costume.

As in _marriage_.

Leo is snickering. Jack can hear it, and feels his face growing steadily redder. "Oh, hi Jack." Carly says. "Why didn't you dress up?"

What the- he _is_ dressed up, at least as much as he's ever going to be!

Akiza sighs, shaking her head. "Don't bring it up, Carly. I tried. The crown's as much as I'm ever going to get out of him."

"Jack?" At the small voice, Jack makes the mistake of looking down at Luna. "We're going to have so much fun trick-or-treating tonight, aren't we?" Dammit, Luna can look adorable when she wants to. Jack's sure that that's the way Leo gets away with half of what he does: the little rat makes Luna look at whoever's angry at him, and all is forgiven. Well, Jack's not falling for it!

"Yeah, we are. But I still don't see what the big deal is about walking around and begging for candy." Okay, he fell for it. But he will fall for it while remaining true to his personality.

"Come on!" Leo is looking extremely impatient, if only to get to his favorite holiday of all time. "Guys, we're going to be late and then all the good candy will be gone! Let's hurry _uuuuuuuppppp!_" He finishes off his whiny masterpiece with a crescendo that reaches earsplitting pitches. Jack makes a mental note to annoy Leo by going as slow as possible. Unfortunately for Jack's resolution, Leo promptly clamps onto Jack's hand, and in a surprising feat of strength manages to drag him out the door and down the steps, and finally onto the street.

Suddenly, there are flashing headlights, the honk of a horn, a shout of "Crow, watch OUT!", and a screeching skid that accompanies the smell of burning rubber. Jack jumps back, dragging Leo out of the way of the crazy driver.

"Hey!" Crow yells breezily, coming to a skidding halt with the Duel Runner parked perpendicular to the road.

Yusei pulls up neatly at the side of the road, the way the laws dictate, and quietly parks. "Crow, I thought we agreed you weren't going to do that."

"Oh, where's the fun in that? You should have seen the look on Jack's face!" Crow doubles over laughing.

"You imbecile!" Jack yells. "What were you thinking? You could have killed us!"

"Nah, I'm too good a driver for that. I wouldn't hurt you!"

"Not accidentally, anyway." Jack mutters darkly. "Hey, wait – weren't you supposed to be taking tons of little kids out trick-or-treating?"

"Yeah." Yusei replies. "Kalin's coming right now. Misty is coming with you guys for crowd control, and Kalin's coming with us. But we figured we'd pick you guys up, so we borrowed Mina's van and hoped we could pack everybody in." The black-haired teen neatly steps off the Duel Runner and Jack gets the full effect of his costume for the first time: a full length blue robe covered in gold moons and stars. It's tied off at the waist so as not to get in the way of riding the Duel Runner, so everyone is lucky Yusei is sensible enough to wear pants under a dress costume, but the hat at least matches.

And Jack is going to have a good time with Crow riding Yusei about this later. Really? Matching your costume to that of the girl you have a crush on, really? Wizards and witches, how cliché.

Crow hops off his Duel Runner, and Jack cannot believe his eyes. The thief-boy who routinely steals from Jack Atlas "just for fun" dressed up as a _policeman_? Unbelievable.

"Hey, Yusei, you dressed up as a wizard?" Leo asks. "Cool, you match Big Sister Aki!"

Yusei blushes. "Yeah… talk about coincidences, huh?" Jack smirks. The liar. If the fact that they freaking live in the same building wasn't enough, Crow had quizzed Yusei on his costume the day before – including dragging it out of him that he was really only dressing up to match with Akiza.

"What I can't believe is Crow's costume." Carly says, taking a picture. Jack often wonders where she stores that camera when she doesn't have her backpack with her. Hammerspace, maybe, or more perve- Jack immediately shuts down that line of thought and all mental images that accompany it.

Another honk, this time coming from a large open-top safari van that's driving rather slowly. Apparently Kalin just wants everyone out of the road so he can park. The moment the vehicle comes to a complete stop, three kids pour out of it, squealing with excitement. A small boy with spiky black hair steps out after them, scowling, arms crossed over his chest. "What's the big deal?"

Yusei explains, "Sly wasn't too happy about the trick-or-treating."

"Yeah, but then Luna asked him and he totally melted!" Crow yells teasingly. "I still can't believe she got him into the vampire outfit."

Kalin waves slightly. "Anyway, Jack, Carly, you're taking Leo and Luna and their school friends around one neighborhood. We're taking my kids and Martha's kids around another one. 'Kay?"

Jack can feel it in his bones – this is a _really_ bad idea.

Half an hour later, Kalin has dropped everyone off, and in Jack and Carly's little band of candy-hunters, morale is low. Mostly because Sly is bored and there isn't enough candy for everyone's tastes. Jack's morale is low, however, because mothers keep walking up to him and asking him about his and Carly's relationship, saying things like, "It's so cute!" and, "My son and his girlfriend also took their siblings' friends trick-or-treating." Jack is not amused.

In the slightest.

Which means that Carly has her hands full trying to deal with two caustic boys and one hyperactive Leo.

"This is lame." Sly says, scowling.

Luna takes him by the hand, pulling him along slightly. Sly's eyes widen, and he stiffens. "Come on Sly, at least try to have fun. Halloween is nice once you get past Leo." Sly starts to pull away, and Luna pulls him back.

Jack smirks. There may possibly be an upside to the evening – watching Sly sort out his crush on Luna. Jack can't think of a better way to spend the evening.

Carly is watching Sly and Luna too, and can't help but notice something. She takes a step closer to Jack, their hands brushing. Jack stiffens, too, and Sly can't help but notice and scoff quietly. "Jack, do those two remind you of anyone?"

"Eh? What?"

"Do Sly and Luna remind you of anyone?"

Jack looks at her, bemused. "No…"

Carly sighs. Maybe she's just a lovesick fool who can't help but draw parallels to anything romantic that she sees, but there's something sort of familiar about a boy who's rude to everyone he meets and a girl who's shy but trying to get him to loosen up and be a bit nicer. Of course, Jack doesn't get it, so it's probably just her. The fact that Sly is blushing at Luna trying to get him to enjoy himself is not helping her case (against herself) any.

_But ah, well. Just enjoy the night,_ she tells herself. _It's not that bad._

"Hey, did you guys plan your outfits like that?" Sly asks brusquely, looking from Jack's crown to Carly's dress and back again.

Carly blushes, and Jack immediately says, "No! Akiza just annoyed me into the costume and I gave in to shut her up. I wasn't even going to wear a costume!"

"Huh." Sly says sarcastically. "I wonder why." His tone is a mix of could-be-commenting-on-the-weather and you-guys-are-so-stupid as he continues with, "You do know kings and queens are traditionally married, right?"

"Sly," Luna sighs, pulling him to the front of the group as they go to the next house. "Don't start."

Jack stops dead, suddenly nervous. He knows this house. He ought to – he spent his entire childhood living here.

Oh, no.

Who planned out their route again?

Jack's not sure, but he's willing to bet almost anything that it was Crow and Crow is up to something.

Dexter rings the doorbell, and almost immediately Martha comes out holding a bowl full of candy in one hand and a pan of cupcakes in the other. The kids fall all over her in their rush to get to the sweets, but Martha doesn't mind: she's busy smiling an evil smile at Jack, tilting her head at Carly. Jack swallows.

"Hello, Jack," Martha says, a small smirk on her face. Jack would never have thought it possible for an old woman to look scary, but he's never really applied that to Martha – with very good reason. "Come to visit for Halloween?"

"Oh, you know her?" Carly says, waving at Martha with a smile on her face, completely missing the tension in the air: Jack's nervousness and Martha's anticipation combine for a very stiff atmosphere. Jack wishes Carly wouldn't say anything. She's just going to dig them into a very steep and slippery pit that they will never get out of. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Carly."

Martha nods, a sweet grandmotherly smile creasing her face. "I've heard. So, Jack, you weren't going to introduce your ladyfriend to me?"

Jack chokes and then scowls, not saying anything. He knows Martha will find some way to twist his words into something totally embarrassing.

"He didn't really need to," Sly says, leaning against the wall as the other kids check their candy. "Didn't you hear her introduce herself?"

Martha smiles at Sly again, this time with an expression that Jack always thought was permanently reserved for him. "I'll ignore that, seeing as my job tonight isn't to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend."

Sly turns his head from watching the woodwork in the floor to Martha so fast Jack's surprised he didn't get whiplash from it. "My _girlfriend_?" He says disbelievingly. Jack smirks. He's looking forward to seeing the little brat taken down a peg or two.

"Oh, I see." Martha says sweetly. "You haven't told her yet. I'll keep your secret." She sends a pointed glance at Luna's back. Luna is one of the few kids who restrained herself, and is trying to keep Leo from devouring all his candy in under ten seconds – Dexter bet Leo he couldn't do it.

Sly turns a pale shade of red, then green at the thought that Martha might break her promise. There's something about this lady that makes him sure that he doesn't want to mess with her.

"So, Carly." Martha says, putting down the candy and cupcakes and extending her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you. Crow and Yusei have told me a lot about your interactions with Jack. I've loved hearing about the events of the past ten months." Carly turns red; Jack turns redder. Martha is going to be ruthless.

"Would you all like to come in? Halloween does get cold, and you can take a break and count your candy." Needless to say, Leo is the first to take her up on her offer, followed quickly by his friends and then Luna in a desperate attempt to keep the situation under control. Sly follows sullenly; Carly walks after them bouncily; Jack hangs back, suspicious. "Jack, why don't you come in?" Martha says.

"I know you're up to something, Martha." Jack hisses. "I don't know what yet, but I know you are."

"So suspicious, Jack. Just come in. I have planned absolutely nothing." Jack can see the obvious loophole in her words, but he says nothing, just walks in. He knows better than to get into a debate with Martha, and he doesn't think his pride can stand being knocked down even farther.

The kids are sitting in front of the TV, watching a Halloween cartoon about a talking dog and a man in a green shirt running like cowards from some-or-other monster. Carly's watching, too, and has helped herself to one cupcake as she views it. Suddenly the screen cuts to a transition, and then to a commercial, and –

Oh, dammit.

Jack is going to absolutely strangle Crow. And whoever helped them get a freaking _commercial_!

"Hey there!" Crow says jauntily, uncaring of his fate, which will be swift and painful. "I know this isn't a real commercial, but this is a public announcement, and it's being broadcasted right now on every available channel. So listen up, got it?"

"Hey!" Leo says, sputtering crumbs onto his trick-or-treating bag (which is a bedsheet sewn into a giant pocket, and unbelievably, it's already half full). "Crow managed to get the commercial from Misty!"

"Okay, anyone who sees Jack Atlas tonight-"

Jack growls at the TV set.

"-you need to ask him about his love life with the girl in the queen outfit. You do this, you get to have lunch with your choice of Misty Tredwell, Akiza Fudo – oops, sorry Akiza, my mistake, not that there's much difference (OW! Don't throw stuff at me, it was an accident, I swear) – I mean Akiza Izinsky, or Yusei Fudo." Crow looks incredibly pleased with himself.

The camera pans over to Akiza, who looks incredibly annoyed, Misty, who smiles while waving at the camera, and Yusei, who has an expression that's an even mix of regretful, humiliated, and all-for-the-best.

"Sorry Yuse, but the ends justify the means, right?" Crow says cheerfully. Yusei nods and shrugs, and the commercial switches to something about an owl and a lollipop.

Jack swallows and chances a glance at Leo and his friends. Even Sly has a devious smirk on his face, despite being the last person on Earth Jack would think of as interested in something like this.

"So, Jack, what _about_ Carly?"

Jack looks at Carly, who is steadily turning a deeper and deeper shade of red. His best bet is just to play it off. "What about Carly?"

"How long have you been head-over-heels in love with her?" Sly remarks snidely.

Jack colors. "That's funny, coming from you. Little hypocrite, aren't you?" Sly lowers his eyelids; this means war.

"Really? Who is it Sly?" Luna says, the smile on her face dimming a little bit.

Sly turns away to stare at the wall. "It's nobody. Jack's delusional."

"Anyway, I still want to hear more about his relationship with Carly." Patty says. "It sounds so romantic. Please tell us more, Jack?"

Jack scowls and turns away, mimicking Sly's motions.

"Now I _know_ you love her!" Patty cries. "You're acting just like Sly!"

Carly senses an oncoming disaster, and she gets up and turns to Martha, still a tiny bit flustered. "Um, well, thanks for having us, Martha, but, you know, we, um, really need to get going, because, um…" she pauses for a minute. "We have, um, more houses and candy to get to, and we're, um, supposed to rendezvous with everybody at eight, so, yeah, we, um, need to get going, because, um-" she looks around desperately and grabs Leo's bedsheet-bag. "Look! Leo needs more candy!"

Martha smiles, chuckling slightly. "I understand completely. Crow and Jack were the same way when they were Leo's age. Why don't you come back and visit on another day? I'd love to speak with you again."

"Um, okay!" Carly says. "That'd be awesome!" She adds, almost shoving Bob and Patty out the door (Jack and Sly have already left.) She turns back towards Martha, smiling. "I'd really like that. Um, Luna, can you get Leo?"

Luna, sighs, nodding, and grabs Leo's bag, dragging it out the door. Leo immediately jumps up and follows the enormous sack of candy.

Actually, that may have been one of Carly's worse ideas. Ever. Because the moment they turn the corner, they are totally mobbed. By everyone within a hundred feet, most of whom neither of them have ever met once in their lives.

All they can do is get back to the meeting point as fast as humanly possible while making sure everyone gets as much candy as they can, and not getting too badly embarrassed. It's a lot harder than it would seem.

They finally get back to the meeting spot, and it's amazing – even Leo has filled his bag, although to be fair he did have extra pockets in the sides for any extras his friends might not be able to carry. Leo can be nice, if not to Jack.

"Hey!" Crow says, smiling. Akiza looks mildly annoyed (presumably from the "Akiza Fudo" incident). Yusei is blushing, so perhaps Crow did something to him. Kalin and Misty wave, holding hands. They've made no small secret about their relationship since around August. It's rather sappy, actually, by Jack's standards, but to anyone else it's pretty much a normal relationship.

"So, did you see the commercial?" Misty asks.

Bob laughs. "We saw it, and they were harassed all the way back here! It was really funny."

A corner of Akiza's mouth quirks up. "I bet it was."

"It was nowhere near funny, and you will never do it again." Jack says tightly.

"Yeah, it was! But we wouldn't do it again." Leo says. "That would be really unoriginal."

Misty smiles. "He's right, it would. By the way, I love the matching costumes, you two." Carly turns dark red.

Jack scowls. "How come you got away with not wearing one?"

"I'm special." Misty replies. "But you two look really cute together."

"That's what I said!" Patty says. "And we did ask Jack, so can we pick who we want to have lunch with?"

Crow smiles. "Sure. In fact, you can ask as many times as you want. It just won't get you more than one lunch. I plan on doing it myself, just for fun." He turns to Jack. "So, what were you talking about on the Fourth of July? Oh yeah, and have you told Carly what you told her when she was a Dark Signer?"

"That's serious stuff, Crow." Yusei warns. "You shouldn't treat it like a joke."

"Is that why you're taking so long with Akiza?" Crow smirks.

"No, as a matter of fact I haven't told her, and I would have on the Fourth of July but the fireworks were starting again." Jack fires up.

Carly tilts her head. "Tell me what?"

"I'll tell you later," Jack says out of habit, then freezes. "Wait…"

Crow smirks. "Don't worry, Carly. Later might be a bit longer than you'd like, but we'll make sure he gets around to it."

Carly sighs. "This makes no sense."

"Welcome to spending time with these guys," Akiza says. "Everything stops making sense after a while."

"By the way, how do you know about that?" Jack says.

"Lucky guess," Crow says, very pleased with himself. "Well, Leo and I both guessed the same thing. And we were right!"

"Crow is dead meat, isn't he?" Luna whispers to Sly as Jack chases the redhead around, one shouting threats, the other laughing maniacally.


	8. Holiday Resolutions

**This is NOT the last chapter. This is the second-to-last chapter, or, if people want, I will go back and post Thanksgiving and April Fools' since (yes, I **_**noticed**_**) I did not do those two chapters. But there's definitely going to be an epilogue, which will probably come out on Valentine's Day in keeping with the holiday party posting theme. Thanks for reading; you guys have been great over the last year, especially to put up with all my schedule slips.**

Jack jumps up at a knock on the door. It's Christmas, the end of the year. One full year since this whole mess started. They have to be planning something spectacular just to celebrate the one-year anniversary. But just knocking doesn't seem like - well, for Pete's sake, the point of knocking is to announce your presence! If you're going to drag someone off unwillingly to a holiday party that they don't want to go to, you need to use stealth.

In short: what the heck?

It's Crow, looking bored and tired. "Hey. Let's get this over with. Come on, let's get going."

"What, to a stupid party?" Jack asks.

"Yeah. Come on."

Jack expected something better. A way of coercing him into doing it, perhaps. A way of forcing him. Simply commanding is never going to work, especially from Crow. "No."

"Look, you can stick this one out, can't you?"

"I'm not going."

"Fine." Crow says dully, with no hint of the mischief that usually makes his eyes sparkle when dealing with Jack. "Then I'll tell Carly what you said to her at the end of your duel against her."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. This is the last party, all right?"

Jack stares. All that work, just to stop at the one-year mark? "What?"

"This is the last holiday party. We figure that if you two won't get over it and spit it out already, there's either nothing we can do, or you're really not in love with each other, and you made a mistake." Jack growls a little at that thought - he knows that he loves Carly! "Anyway, this is the last one. Come on, or I tell Carly you said you loved her."

Jack is about to consent, when Crow adds, "But you're a coward."

That gets Jack's back up. He is not and has never been and never will be a coward. Jack Atlas is not afraid of anything! He speaks in _third person_, come on! If that's not a sign of totally badassness, Jack doesn't know what is.

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"You're a coward." Crow repeats brazenly, not backing down, looking Jack right in the eye. "You're afraid to tell a girl you're in love with her because you're afraid she'll reject you, even though every other person on the planet can see she loves you back."

Jack glares at him.

"You're also afraid of being embarrassed, even though the fact that we just shoved you through twelve months of humiliation with her should probably mean that it would take a lot more than a love confession to embarrass you."

"You did that for a whole year just so I wouldn't feel embarrassed when I tried to tell her?" Jack asks disbelievingly. He's not sure whether to be angry or dumbfounded – who would have thought Crow and Leo could plan so far in advance?

"Yes. But since it's not working, we're going to the backup plan."

"Which is what, exactly?" Jack asks testily.

"Wait forever for you two to finally stop tiptoeing around it and confess." Crow says brusquely. Jack stares at him for a moment, opening his mouth and preparing to say something very indignant, when Crow grabs his arm and he tips forward, suddenly having to focus just to stay upright.

Jack's not even paying attention to their route, too busy mulling over Crow's words. It's true he hasn't faced Carly yet, but he's tried… once. Five months ago. And he promised to tell Carly what everyone was laughing about at Halloween.

Okay, so he hasn't held up his word so far. But that doesn't mean his friends have the right to tease him about it, right? Although… Crow said they're not teasing him, they're trying to build up his resistance to embarrassment. And it's kind of true that over the past twelve months he's had to learn to roll with the punches, not get too upset over what they're saying. But they still have no right to try and force him into it. Into confessing. Especially to Carly.

Jack's not sure if his friends can grasp the situation, exactly. Akiza had never met Misty before the Dark Signers; he's almost certain the twins had no contact with Devack, and he knows Crow didn't know Greiger. He'd known Rex for the longest; but no one had known much about the brothers beyond Rex being a Signer.

So, the closest thing to what he's feeling is what Yusei felt when Kalin was evil: a close friend in danger, blaming you. But even Yusei doesn't quite know how Jack felt; Yusei knew where Kalin was for the whole time Yusei couldn't be with him, kind of. Yusei knew Kalin was in Sector Security, and then he knew Kalin was a Dark Signer. He knew that Kalin blamed him, and he knew that Kalin was wrong.

But Jack kept tabs on Carly; at least, he tried. There was a large period where Carly should have been going to her house but wasn't, should have shown up at her office more but wasn't, and it sounds like he stalked her but really, when you're fighting five thousand year old forces of evil, you want to protect the people you care about.

And Carly had gone missing, and he hadn't known where she was, and when he found her… She was evil, a Dark Signer the way their old friend had been, but… she hated him. He _loved_ her, that's why he had tried to protect her. But it didn't work. She blamed him, like Kalin, but unlike Kalin… she was right. He was the _reason_ that everything had happened, the reason Carly was a Dark Signer, the reason she had died, from the first.

From the moment he left her behind, he had doomed Carly.

Twice.

And she died twice, once because of that awful Sayer man, and the other time because… because she wanted to save him. The angel wanted to save the sinner. She had fought, first to convince him not to give up, and then to save his life. At the cost of her own, no less.

The more he thinks about it, the more that seems love-y. But there's still no guarantee – he'd sacrifice his life for any of his friends in a heartbeat, admit it or no. Carly would be first on his list of save-worthy people, but he'd do it for any of his friends.

Crow's stopped in front of the door to a nondescript building, facing Jack. "Look. Stick this one out, and we won't bother you again. You can stick it out. Or you could man up, face your feelings, and not waste the whole of the last year. But it's your choice."

The room they enter looks nothing like the building – decorated with red and white and green, covered in holly and plants, strobe lights flashing, Christmas trees in every corner. Carly is chatting with Akiza and Misty next to the table covered in food, Yusei is discussion what seems to be duel strategies with Kalin, and Martha is looking after the twins.

As Jack watches, Akiza looks over at the door, then back at Carly and Misty. She smiles deviously, muttering something quietly. Misty smirks in response, saying something to Carly that can't be heard over the blaringly loud un-Christmas-like music. Carly jumps, looks over at Jack, and turns a shade of red that would make a stop sign jealous. She says something back, clearly stuttering, and Jack can't help but smile.

"Hey, Jack." Misty says as the man walks over. "How's your holiday?"

"Pretty good, I suppose." Jack admits grudgingly. Aside from Crow insulting him, it's true. "You?"

Misty shrugs. "I spent a lot of time at home. Took a break. I almost went off to Switzerland for skiing, but then I would have missed the party."

"I've mostly been working on riding my Duel Runner." Akiza confesses. "Yusei's been helping me – I'm getting better."

Jack's eyes glint in the strobe lights, making Akiza slightly nervous. "_Yusei's_ been helping you? Tell us about it, then."

"No thanks." Akiza says, a little too quickly. Jack smirks, pondering whether to push the matter further. If he does, he'll get it out of Akiza, but if he doesn't, he can always ask Yusei in front of Crow later, and watch that scene unfold.

He doesn't get a chance – Akiza has grabbed at the opportunity to leave, saying, "Actually, I'm going to get some food. See you guys later." Misty raises her hand in a half-wave at Jack, following Akiza and leaving Jack alone with Carly.

"Hey, Carly." Jack says awkwardly, not quite sure how to start a conversation. "Er… how's work going?"

Carly's eyes light up – this is a topic she knows like the mechanics of a camera. "Actually, I'm working on a new story, researching dueling with the average person, how many people spend their childhood playing, what kind of decks they use, things like that. We were also going to try and ask people how their strategies are influenced by pop culture and then the people around them, the different things that affect how people play the game, you know? All the different strategies, how effects can be used, but from the point of view of people who aren't already famous."

Jack's surprised. He's perfectly willing to talk with Carly about anything, would listen and try to make conversation with her about any topic whatsoever, but this is something that he doesn't have to try with – this is something he knows about. Here he doesn't have to feel like a clod for not knowing what she's talking about and grasp at straws for an intelligent comment. "But not everyone is influenced by their friends. Look at me and Yusei, we duel differently."

Carly nods. "That's a valid point – one I was thinking of researching. Yusei is all about building, putting small pieces together into one whole that can get him where he needs, like a Duel Runner. Your strategy is about stunning people into not focusing, then hitting while they're distracted."

Talk of strategies and differences and Carly's article carry them through the next half an hour, and while it's not the best half an hour of Jack's life, it's certainly a good time. Because this is the time that he and Carly never had, the normal time where they can make easy conversation, not thinking about the fallen King in disguise or fighting evil or the fact that he confessed his love and now she doesn't remember. All that is behind them, and now is their chance to be a normal couple, or close to it. Has Carly ever had this sensation? She's the only one Jack can think of at this party who has had a normal upbringing. But the idea of Carly feeling this way, with another person, talking and laughing happily, is not something he wants to dwell on. The important thing is that this is now, and he's the one with Carly, having fun.

Keeping a careful eye on his friends, he notices Misty talking to Crow and Kalin, Martha chasing the twins, and Yusei and Akiza – here he smirks, no longer jealous of their relationship – kissing.

They talk a bit, they eat a bit, they dance a bit, all while staying by each other's side, keeping up the steady flow of earnest conversation. And if Jack slips in the odd sarcastic comment, so what? Love hasn't made him lose his mind, or his personality. If Carly trips occasionally, or misunderstands what Jack meant, who cares? It's part of her charm.

But somewhere down the road Jack can't help but notice that suddenly they've drifted off to the side of the room. Which is in and of itself not all that remarkable, but there's the fact that the music seems to have gotten much, much louder.

No. It's not that the music is louder. It's that everyone else is much, much quieter. Jack looks around to see that everyone is watching them, even if they're not being obvious. Yusei and Akiza have kind sympathetic smiles on their faces and light blushes on their cheeks; Luna looks merely exasperated; and Crow and Leo look excited and mischievous.

It's probably nothing, but Jack would rather play it safe. He takes a quick 360 degree scan of the room – not one trigger for matchmaking in sight.

Carly's stopped, looking at him. "Uhm, Jack? Is something wrong?"

Jack shakes his head absentmindedly, still looking around. He glances back at his friends, hoping for some sort of clarification. The only thing he gets is Luna – _Luna, of all people – _pointing at the ceiling. He tilts his head up, and…

No.

They wouldn't resort to something like this.

Well, it's a classic. But still…

Maybe Misty and Akiza plotted this one? For the romantic aspect?

Because above their heads, stuck on the wall and decorated with a pine garland, is a wreath decorated in red ribbons and pinecones and _white berries_.

Jack's not stupid. Mischievous looks, matchmaking, and berries hung over someone's head at Christmas… it's mistletoe.

Carly hasn't noticed. She's still just looking at him, bewildered as to why he was checking the premises like there was a gunman after him. He could try to play it off, maybe, invent some excuse and ignore the plant above their heads. He could just go back to their conversation, a sure-fire way of keeping the status quo. No, he doesn't have to kiss her at all. Jack's relieved. He doesn't have to do a thing!

But… Crow's words ring through his head.

_You're a coward._

Jack doesn't want to hide. He's not going to admit it to the others, but it's true and they're right. He's better prepared for the embarrassment of emotions now thanks to them, and he's braver about facing them.

"Er… Carly?" He asks, catching the reporter's attention. Jack's not sure how to go about this, exactly, so he might as well plunge in.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember… at Halloween, what Crow was laughing about at the end?"

Carly nods. "Uh-huh. You promised to tell me what they were talking about."

Well. That was direct. If Jack had any sort of plan, it would have been to approach the subject delicately, bring it up without throwing it headfirst into the conversation. But that's shot to pieces.

"Well, yes. But they were talking about…"

"Yes?" Carly prompts. "Talking about what?"

"It's very hard to explain." Jack says, trying to figure out whether he wants to confess or just abort the mission and avoid the subject.

"What? Don't worry, I won't take it badly."

"Well. I want you to know that it's not because of tradition. So… so you know."

Carly's confused; it shows in her eyes. "Um, Jack? What are you-"

But she doesn't get to finish. Because Jack has decided to man up.

And he's taken her face in his hands, bent down, and now – _ohsoclose, ohsogently – _he leans in.

And…


End file.
